Dean Martin: King of Cool

A TCM documentary from last year on the consummate entertainer. Tracing his roots from Ohio to the top of the heap who skirted on his great looks, effortless way around a song & his innate talent & featuring talking heads like his daughter, the RZA, Jon Hamm, et al who chart his early days as a crooner, his hugely popular partnership w/Jerry Lewis (which turned ugly when Lewis started exercising more power over their relationship), his film roles which led him becoming a member of the Rat Pack & finally his popular TV show which ran for about a decade. Through it all, for all the outward good will he displayed, his failed marriages, the death of his son & his inability to connect soon showed a dark side to his persona where even his own nearest & dearest couldn't get in but through it all Martin still remained an timeless enigma which garnered him praise from all comers.

I like Dean Martin as much as the next non-Italian. His singing was sublime. His acting under-estimated.

But do we really learn anything new in these two hours? Born in Steubenville. Fortuitous partnership with Jerry Lewis that turns the duo into superstars. The fallout. The comeback helped by Sinatra. The TV show. The marriages. The decline.

We get some decent dirt. Norman Lear says on the days when Dean was on fire, comedy-wise, Jerry was balled up in the corner with a tummy ache. Being the godfather of American television and still razor sharp even at nearly 100 years of age, I was hoping the film-makers would go further with Lear and juicy gossip might actually turn into genuine insight. As it is, we're left with the implication that Jerry resented Dean's comedic gifts, whereas I grew up hearing from the pre-Boomers that Dean resented Jerry's act-hogging. Considering it was the entertainment industry's biggest breakup prior to The Beatles, I wanted more.

We also gain no insight into why Sinatra got Martin booked The Sands or why they connected on music, acting or personally. And we're pretty much asked to believe that the beautiful, graceful-as-a-cat, clear-eyed Dean of the 50s and even up to the early years of his TV show wasn't drinking himself into a stumbling stupor about halfway through his TV run.

Instead, we get notable firearms expert Alex Baldwin saying things such as, ''Martin and Lewis were huge!" And Jon Hamm reading some kind of transcript. Plus more than a couple of industry geezers taking cheapshots at Jerry Lewis. I found it distasteful.

On the plus side, since I'm post-Boomer, I got my first decent taste of the Dean & Jerry magic. And Dino's comedic and musical charm from his TV show. If somebody repackages that stuff for DVD release, I'm buying it.

Admittedly, I didn't know very much about Dean Martin other than his public persona. After seeing Rio Bravo recently, this doc was an opportunity to learn more.

The insight into his real personality is fascinating. It's a difficult job to construct a profile of a man who made a point of being unknowable. The filmmakers probably came as close as possible.

Like many hard working men and women, we see how hard and long Dean Martin worked to hone and expand his talent and maintain the love of his large and faithful fan base. This documentary provides some good insights into who Dean Martin, the singer, Vegas performer, and film star really was. It provides us with insight that Dean didn't have any time for phonies and preferred to go to his room after a hard day on stage or in front of the camera. He valued honesty and loved his family, and his family loved him back. He married and divorced three times if you don't include his marriages to his comedy partner Jerry Lewis and/or to his Vegas Rat pack buddies.

Hearing stories from the people that knew him best/well provided further insight into Dean Martins humble beginnings and family life and losses as when his son died in a plane crash and once again the King of Cool seemed to hibernate and reluctantly but very selectively socialized with family members and close friends until his death.

On the day he died he was telling his old friend Frank Sinatra a joke about two corpse's when one corpse says to the other corpse "Is that you coffin?"

Rest in Peace Dean from one of your loyal fans.

I am very glad I watched this film with my daughter, as the film impacted both of us very differently. As a 57 year-old guy, I know I lot about Martin. I've seen most of his films and remember his weekly TV show. My daughter, on the other hand, knew little about him apart from his music...and her reaction to the film is important but quite different. And so, it seems that depending on your age and familiarity with the man will greatly impact on your viewing experience. Much of it is because the film seems to assume you know a lot about Dean Martin...and my daughter had to ask me repeatedly to fill in a few gaps.

The film itself is interesting because there's no narrator. Instead, lots of folks talk about Dean Martin and their recollections of him. Many of these pieces of footage are great...such as from his family and friends. However, a few left me confused as to WHY these people were talking about Dean Martin as they most likely did NOT know the man and were not experts on him. Jon Hamm and the guy from the Wu-Tang Clan were VERY oddly included...as were a few others.

If you are looking for a film about Dean Martin and not his career, this is a very good film. But when it comes to his career, there are a few glaring omissions (such as any mention of his "Celebrity Roasts" or even his individual films with Jerry Lewis). Overall, a very good film with a few problems...which I mentioned above.